


Sweet Dreams

by uniquepov



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, BDSM, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-22
Updated: 2010-11-22
Packaged: 2017-11-05 01:27:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/400934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uniquepov/pseuds/uniquepov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for <span class="ljuser ljuser-name_hp_creatures"><a href="http://hp-creatures.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://hp-creatures.livejournal.com/"><b>hp_creatures</b></a></span> and the 2010 Halloween Creaturefest.</p><p>Prompt:#225<br/>
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Harry/Draco<br/>
Creature: incubus<br/>
Era: Golden Trio<br/>
Scenario: Harry's dreams are troubling him, but not in the way they used to. Now he dreams about doing despicable things to Draco Malfoy. In his dreams, Draco Malfoy sneaks into his room and ties him to the bed, before licking him all over and… well, the dream varies from night to night, you know? Sometimes, Harry breaks free of his bonds and gives as good as he gets, but sometimes he likes it when Draco takes control and makes his decisions for him. As much as he wishes the dreams were reality, he knows they can’t be. The trouble is, this morning he woke up with these strange bruises, like rope marks and lovebites…</p><p>Squicks: rape/non-con (I know this could be seen as dub-con, but Harry is really not protesting!), chan, scat, watersports<br/>
Maximum Rating: NC-17</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I solemnly swear that I am up to no good; however, I promise to return everyone, good as new, when I'm done playing with them. I own nothing that you recognize, and I do not profit from any of it.
> 
>  **A/N:** Thank you to my prompter for such great inspiration! I varied from your prompt a *tiny* bit for plot purposes. I hope you don’t mind. Extra-special thanks and *squishes* to [](http://rivertempest.livejournal.com/profile)[**rivertempest**](http://rivertempest.livejournal.com/) , [](http://deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com/profile)[**deirdre_aithne**](http://deirdre-aithne.livejournal.com/) and [](http://solas-divided.livejournal.com/profile)[**solas_divided**](http://solas-divided.livejournal.com/) for being additional pairs of eyes, sounding boards, founts of knowledge and all-around awesome cheerleaders. I less-than-three you guys. Totally.

_Harry felt the bed dip and a warm body pressing against him. He tried to reach for the lover now trailing hot kisses across his chest, but his arms wouldn’t obey. Opening his eyes, he stared at the silk ropes firmly securing his wrists to the bedposts. His gaze flew to the figure licking down his chest, but in the dim light of the bedroom, all he could see was pale skin and pale hair._

_Harry groaned as the mystery lover began to tease his nipples, tongue swirling around the nub before teeth nipped gently. He gasped and arched his back, breath hitching, as the figure now licked slowly down his stomach. His aching groin, which had immediately sprung to attention, was tantalizingly nuzzled, but the tongue that was slowly driving Harry mad with desire skipped over that part of his anatomy to begin licking slowly down one thigh. His feet were licked, toes experimentally suckled, before the figure made its way back up the other thigh to nuzzle Harry’s straining erection once again. Something rock hard nudged his leg and Harry had a fleeting sensation of feathers brushing his thigh. He groaned, struggling vainly to free himself from the magical bonds. His cock was suddenly surrounded by an eager mouth, sliding smoothly over the length, and he came hard, pulling against the bonds, crying out in pleasure._

_As he sagged back against the bed, exhausted but sated, his mystery lover placed a last kiss to his stomach and slipped away into the night._

*** *** ***

The next thing Harry knew, he was blinking in the morning light, the covers spread smoothly over his prone form. He sat up in bed, rubbing tiredly at his eyes and yawning. A smile spread across his face as he remembered his dream from the night before.

He was still grinning as he made his way down to the kitchen. Ron and Hermione looked up from the kitchen table as he entered.

“Good morning, Harry,” Hermione said with a smile.

“’Morning, mate,” Ron mumbled around his breakfast.

Harry returned the greeting and crossed to the kettle, instantly reheating the water with a wave of his wand. He fixed himself some tea and toast and joined them at the table.

“Sleep well?” he asked them conversationally.

Ron and Hermione both nodded.

“You must have as well, Harry; you’re practically glowing,” Hermione observed with a smile.

Ron gave Harry a closer look.

“If I didn’t know better, mate, I’d say you got some last night,” he teased, earning a smack on the back of the head from Hermione. “Oi! What was that for?”

“Harry’s love life is none of our business, Ronald,” Hermione said primly.

“Since when?” Ron chuckled. “I very clearly remember you running off the last bloke. Something about him being a money-grubbing publicity hound.”

Harry groaned at the memory. Hermione flushed.

“Well, he was! He didn’t care about Harry! He just wanted to get his name in the papers as The Chosen One’s boyfriend,” she protested indignantly.

Harry winced. “You know, guys, Alan and I were together for nearly a year, and the revelation that he was selling our photographs to the _Prophet_ came as a bit of a shock, to put it mildly. I’d really rather we not drag it all up again just now. Alright?”

His friends looked down at their plates in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” Hermione murmured.

“Sorry, Harry,” Ron said, cheeks flaming.

Harry sighed. “You both know I love you, yeah?”

They both looked up, meeting his eyes and smiling. “Yeah,” they chorused in unison. “We love you, too.”

Harry smiled back and concentrated on his breakfast, his dream lover all but forgotten.

*** *** ***

_Harry was again woken by the feel of soft hands and feathers gliding over his skin, stroking him, and a rough, hot tongue licking languidly at his rapidly hardening cock. Harry groaned as he realized he was again bound to the bedposts, this time by both wrists and ankles, stretched spread-eagled on his oversized mattress. He strained against each bond one at a time, hoping to find a weakness, but none showed the slightest give. The now-familiar blond figure straddled him, pressing an impressive erection against his own. The blond bent down to nip at Harry’s nipples, teeth gently closing around each sensitive nub, tongue flicking over them as Harry moaned in approval._

_The blond moved about him, letting their erections slide together slowly. Harry moaned again, pressing his hips upward, trying as best he could to encourage his mystery lover to move faster. Instead, the blond stilled, leaning slowly up his torso to nip at Harry’s earlobe. White-blond hair fell gracefully over his shoulders, obscuring his face even as the dark-haired wizard moaned in ecstasy._

*** *** ***

Harry woke and stretched, oddly tired after a full night’s sleep. He rolled over and felt over the bedside table for his glasses, frowning as he reached lower to fumble his hand along the floor clumsily for them. Fingertips closing around the familiar shape, he brought them to his face and blinked as the world finally came into proper focus. He stretched again, frowning as he noticed a dark shadow on one wrist.

 _Must’ve hit it in my sleep, when I knocked my glasses off the table,_ Harry thought to himself, shrugging as he rolled out of bed and padded towards the loo and nice, long shower.

Several times during the day, his mind turned to thoughts of his dreams. He had to admit, it was nice to have dreams that demanded his attention for all the right reasons. Unlike the nightmares of his teenaged years, these nighttime visions were welcome… anticipated, even. Harry found himself surreptitiously watching the wizards around him as he walked through the Ministry halls, hoping for a glance of that shoulder-length blond hair…

When Harry arrived home, Hermione and Ron were out for the evening. He fixed himself a quick bite to eat and washed it down with a bottle of ale. Climbing the stairs to his bedroom, he shucked off his clothes and got into bed, even though it was barely half-seven.

Harry smiled to himself as he set his glasses on the nightstand. He pulled the sheets up over his chest and lay with his hands linked under his head. He lay there staring at the patterns of light thrown across the ceiling by the streetlights streaming through the window, and wondered if his dream lover would come again.

*** *** ***

_Harry groaned as the blond kissed down his chest. He strained his arms against the bonds holding him to the bed as his tormentor began pressing urgent kisses to the insides of his thighs. Wet, moist heat surrounded his aching erection and he hissed, bucking his hips off the mattress. The blond’s head bobbed over his cock, pulling back when Harry was mere seconds from release. He cried out in frustration, opening his eyes to meet an amused silvery gaze._

_“…Malfoy?!”_

_Draco’s shoulder length white-blond hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck tonight, and he was completely nude, his pale body seeming to glow faintly in the dim light. What drew Harry’s attention most, however, were the pure white wings that seemed to sprout from his back._

_Even as Harry’s mind struggled to process all this, the blond dropped his head back down onto Harry’s erection, sucking hard. His immediate, shuddering release shook Harry so strongly that he saw stars._

*** *** ***

Harry bolted upright with a start, breathing heavily. He blinked hard in the darkness, reaching for his wand and his glasses in one go. Shoving his glasses on, he cast a muttered _”Lumos!”_ and scanned the room.

Seeing no trace of Malfoy or anyone else, he sat back against the headboard, still panting slightly. His body, which had clearly been very quickly shocked out of intense arousal, was covered with a sheen of sweat and he shivered slightly in the chill of the night air.

 _Malfoy?! What am I on about, dreaming about Malfoy?_ he thought, his mind still somewhat groggy with sleep. _And were those_ wings _I saw??_

Casting his mind back to the dream, Harry blushed as he recalled the events, now knowing that Draco Malfoy was his mysterious lover. Remembering the rather spectacular end to the dream, Harry moved his wand down the sheets, as though looking for some evidence of Malfoy, or of his own completion. He found neither, and slumped back against the pillows.

As much as Harry hated to admit it, Draco Malfoy – at least this angel of his dreams – was a damned good lover.

He did not dream again that night, as far as he could remember, but he was still far too shaken by the idea that he’d been subconsciously fantasizing about _Draco Malfoy_ to be too disappointed by the blond wizard’s failure to reappear.

The next morning, he stood in the shower, cheeks flaming as the details of his recent dreams replayed in his mind. His eyes snapped open as he realized his hand had drifted down to lazily stroke himself as he relived the dreams. He put both hands on the wall of the shower and leaned against it until his forehead touched the cool tile. He was _not_ going to wank over Malfoy.

 _At least, not again,_ whispered a little voice in the back of his mind.

Harry groaned, closing his eyes and turning his face into the shower spray.

*** *** ***

Harry debated with himself all day. On the one hand, he could take a Dreamless Sleep potion, ensuring no inappropriate Malfoy fantasies. On the other hand, that would mean no inappropriate Malfoy fantasies and, if he was being honest with himself, they were the best dreams he’d ever had.

He tried surreptitiously to find out what had happened to Malfoy after the Final Battle. He was surprised to find that there was virtually no mention of Draco anywhere. The Ministry had no known address for him and, although his parents were still social fixtures, Draco himself had not appeared in public for several years. Finally, he dropped a few casual queries around Mafalda Hopkirk, who was only too happy to fill him in on all the gossip, including the assumption that Draco Malfoy had gone abroad – possibly to America or even Japan – to escape his family’s sullied reputation.

No matter what avenue he pursued, he ran up against a dead end. Finding the real Draco Malfoy appeared impossible, while finding his dream lover once again was becoming more and more appealing.

 _What’s so awful about a few harmless fantasies?_ he tried to convince himself as he prepared for bed. _It’s not like I’m about to go off and shag Malfoy for real…I can’t even pin down what continent he’s on…_ He was still arguing with himself when he doused the lights and fell asleep.

*** *** ***

_This time, Harry was ready when the dream overtook him. He found himself, as usual, bound to the bed with the familiar blond figure teasing him lightly. Concentrating hard, he Vanished the silk ties. He grabbed Draco by the hips, his hands moving up to brush the feathery wings in amazement._

_“They_ are _wings,” he said wonderingly._

_Draco tried to pin him back to the bed, but Harry rolled them smoothly over so that the fair-haired wizard was pinned beneath him. He bent down to nip at Draco’s earlobe, reveling in the shiver that ran through the other man._

_“Let’s see how you like being at someone’s mercy,” Harry growled in his ear, grabbing his wand from the bedside table and securing Draco’s wrists to the bedposts with a muttered,_ ”Incarcerous!” __

_“What-?” Draco’s indignant sputter was silenced by Harry’s tongue invading his mouth._

_The kiss was forceful and demanding, leaving both men slightly dizzy and breathing hard. Harry kissed him again, exploring his mouth._

_Draco moaned into the kiss._

_Harry smirked as he ran his hands over Draco’s pale form._

_“I wonder if you really look like this,” he mused as his fingertips traced the faint, raised scars of the_ Sectumsempra _. His hands moved to brush the underside of the wings, pinned beneath Draco’s body. “Could you have really hidden these under the Hogwarts uniform? I wonder…”_

_Draco’s brow furrowed in confusion, but before he could ask, Harry was kissing him again. His hand drifted further down to tease Draco’s straining cock, stroking it experimentally. The blond hummed in approval._

_“Like that, do you?” Harry chuckled. “What about this?”_

_He bent down and took Draco’s erection in his mouth, bobbing his head over the rigid shaft and licking teasingly at the head._

_“Oh, fuck…. Potter…” Draco panted, his hands clenching into fists as he strained against the bonds._

_Harry took that as encouragement and continued, swirling his tongue along the length and sucking hard. It took only a few moments for Draco to come hard, spurting his release into the back of his throat. Harry swallowed, continuing his ministrations, as Draco screamed his name in release._

*** *** ***

The sound of Draco Malfoy crying out his name was still ringing in his ears when Harry awoke the next morning. He sat up in bed and dropped his head into his hands.

_Fuck._

Harry went down to breakfast in a considerably less cheerful mood than he had been a few days earlier. Hermione looked at him in concern.

“Alright, Harry?” she asked kindly.

Harry sat down heavily.

“Yeah, I’m alright, ‘Mione,” he replied with a sigh. “It’s just… I’ve been having these dreams…”

Both Ron and Hermione’s heads shot up, staring at him apprehensively.

“Not those kinds of dreams,” Harry hastened to add. “Not anymore. These are… different.”

“Different… how?” Ron asked carefully.

Harry’s cheeks coloured. “Different like… not nightmares. More like fantasies.” At Ron’s knowing smirk, he blurted out, “You know, sexual fantasies.”

A faint blush crept across Hermione’s cheeks as well. “You know, Harry, that’s perfectly normal. Lots of wizards-“

“Yeah, Hermione, I know,” he interrupted. “I’ve had fantasies before, that’s not the problem. The problem is, I’m dreaming about someone I… shouldn’t be.”

“Bloody hell,” Ron said, paling. “It’s not Percy, is it?” This earned him another smack from Hermione. “Oi! Oww!”

“Shut up, Ronald,” Hermione retorted. “Who is it, Harry?”

Harry looked at his best friends.

“Draco Malfoy,” he choked out, before dropping his head onto his arms on the tabletop.

*** *** ***

_His dream that night was perhaps the most vivid he’d had yet. He woke to the feeling of chains snaking around his wrists and ankles. He blinked in the dim light to see Draco kneeling at the foot of the bed, wings arched like an avenging angel._

_“Let’s see you get out of those,” he smirked._

_Harry pulled at the chains, but they held fast._

_“Malfoy,” he gasped. “What-“_

_“Shut up,” Draco said, silencing him with a kiss. His tongue dipped into Harry’s mouth, teasing him, before he nipped at his bottom lip._

_Harry moaned into the kiss. Encouraged, the blond kissed down his jaw and sucked hard at a sensitive spot on his neck. Harry arched upward, straining against the bonds, and Draco chuckled._

_“Not this time, Potter,” he drawled. “Struggle all you like. This time, you’re mine.”_

_Harry’s cock, which was already standing at attention, throbbed with need at these words. Draco trailed his hand down his torso to run his fingertips over his straining erection._

_“And this time,” Draco continued, “I want_ this _.”_

_Harry gasped and bucked his hips upward as Draco sank his mouth down around his cock. He jerked, pulling at the chains, as Draco’s head bobbed enthusiastically. He actually sobbed with need as Draco pulled back before he found release._

_Harry gasped again as he watched Draco get up on his knees and insert several fingers into his own arse. The motion of his wrist told Harry he was preparing himself, and he strained even harder at the chains, wanting nothing more at that moment than to get his hands on the blond man opening himself before him._

_Apparently prepared, Draco straddled his body, leaning down to kiss him deeply before positioning himself with Harry’s cock nudging his entrance. With a deep breath, he sank slowly onto it, hissing as his body adjusted to the intrusion. The feathers of his wings brushed Harry’s thighs and he bucked his hips, forcing his cock further inside Draco. This time it was the blond’s turn to gasp and buck, which caused him to sink even deeper onto him, until, finally, Harry’s balls were nestled flush against his arse._

_“Fuck,” Harry breathed. “Malfoy… so tight…”_

_“Gods, Potter… I’ve been waiting so long for this.” With that, Draco began to rock slowly, gyrating his hips as he did. Harry dropped his head back with a loud groan._

_Draco continued his movements, dropping his weight onto his hands so that he could resume kissing him. As Draco’s tongue teased over his lips, Harry renewed his struggles against the chains. He felt Draco chuckle against his ear._

_“Give it up, Potter. Just enjoy,” Draco whispered hotly._

_Harry groaned and began thrusting his hips up as best he could, earning another gasping moan from the blond. Draco licked and sucked at a spot on his collarbone in retaliation, causing Harry to give a low growl._

_“If I wasn’t…chained, Malfoy… pound into you… so hard,” Harry panted._

_“Promises, promises,” Draco gasped as he moved in time with Harry’s thrusts. His hand moved between them to stroke himself as he rode Harry’s cock._

_Harry gave a strangled moan and strained with all his might against the chains holding him. They held fast, pinning him in place underneath Draco. He groaned as he felt himself tightening up._

_“Fuck, Malfoy, I’m going to-“_

_“Me, too. Do it! Do it!” Draco panted, as his hand moved feverishly between them. He stiffened suddenly and gave a shuddering moan, spurting over his hand onto both their stomachs. As Draco’s muscles clenched around him, Harry fell over the edge and screamed, his entire body convulsing against the bonds, before he dropped into blissful oblivion._

*** *** ***

When Harry awoke, he stretched slowly, surprised by the amount of stiffness in his joints. He shoved his glasses on and padded into the loo. He peered into the mirror and stopped short, staring in shock at the two dark, purpling bruises on his neck and collarbone. His hand came up to his neck, but as his fingertips moved to trace the dark blotches, a mark on his wrist caught his attention.

He moved back from the sink and waved his wand, transfiguring the small mirror into a full-length one. He stared, openmouthed, at the abrasions and bruises around his wrists and ankles, his attention continually drawn back to the dark spots on his neck and collarbone. Right where he had dreamed that Malfoy had…

_Fuck._

He spun around, racing back into the bedroom. He searched the room wildly, but there was no evidence that Malfoy had really been in his bedroom last night. Remembering the chains, he inspected the bedposts. The chains should have marked the soft wood, but they were unharmed.

 _What the_ bloody hell _was going on?_

His mind reeling, he sat on the edge of the bed and took slow, calming breaths.

“They’re only dreams,” he said aloud. “Harmless fantasies. They’re not real.”

 _Then what about the bruises on your wrists?_ the little voice in the back of his head whispered.

Harry shook his head, trying to convince himself of some rational explanation.

 _Or those love bites on your neck?_ the voice persisted.

Harry groaned, raking his fingers through his hair. He threw on jeans and a jumper and ran downstairs, skidding to a halt just inside the kitchen door.

“Harry! What’s wrong?” Hermione asked, starting out of her seat.

“Nothing! I just… I need to talk to you two, alright?” Harry said desperately.

Hermione nodded, resuming her seat. Ron looked up from his tea in concern.

“Sit down, mate, you’re as pale as a ghost,” he said mildly.

Harry sat.

“What happened?” Hermione asked.

Harry took a deep breath. “Do you… remember the other morning? When we talked about my dreams?”

Both Ron and Hermione nodded silently.

“I think – I think I might be going mad,” Harry said desperately. “Last night, I dreamed about Malfoy again. He was kissing my neck, in the dream, and it felt so real! Then this morning…” he trailed off, realizing that he didn’t really understand _what_ had happened that morning. Instead, he pulled aside the collar of his jumper to reveal the purpling blotches on his neck.

“Bloody – are those _love bites_ , Harry?” Ron’s voice was incredulous.

“Harry, what happened? How did you get those marks?” Hermione asked, a bit more calmly.

“I don’t know!” Harry protested. “I didn’t have them last night when I went to sleep, but when I woke up this morning, I did.”

“Could you have slept wrong? Did you get up to use the loo and bang into something?” Hermione asked practically.

“No,” Harry replied emphatically.

“Are you sure, Harry?” she persisted.

“Hermione, I think I would remember banging my neck into a door or something in the middle of the night,” Harry said. “Besides, there’s more.”

His two friends fell silent, looking at him expectantly.

“I told you he was kissing my neck. What I didn’t tell you was that in my dream… I was chained to the bed,” Harry mumbled quietly, cheeks flaming, as he pulled up the sleeves of his jumper and laid both wrists on the table to display the angry-looking bruises.

“Merlin, Harry,” Hermione breathed, reaching a hand out to brush her fingertips over the bruises.

Ron just stared at them in shock.

“Just like in my dream,” Harry repeated.

“How could that happen?” Hermione asked doubtfully.

“I don’t know, Hermione!” Harry shouted in exasperation.

“Alright, mate, take it easy,” Ron said quietly.

“Sorry,” Harry said immediately. “I don’t mean to yell.”

“I know,” she said softly. Both men could see her mind working as she sat, staring thoughtfully at the marks on Harry’s skin. “There is one thing… but it seems impossible…” she mused.

“Hermione, I had a dream that left me with bruises. Don’t talk to me about impossible,” Harry rejoined.

“Alright,” she said. “Do you know what an incubus is?”

Harry shook his head, but Ron gasped and nodded.

“It’s a magical creature that enters your dreams and has sex with you,” Ron said excitedly.

“What?” Harry exclaimed in confusion.

“Blunt, but essentially correct,” Hermione smiled fondly at Ron.

“Always the tone of surprise,” Ron returned good-naturedly.

“I’ve never heard of an incubus being able to affect their victim’s physical body, though,” Hermione mused.

Ron stared at her. “Are you kidding? What about Merlin?”

Both Hermione and Harry stared at Ron, now.

“Sorry?” Hermione asked.

“Merlin!” Ron exclaimed. “He was a cambion!” At their blank looks, he continued, “Merlin was half-human, half-incubus. They’re called cambions.” He dropped his voice and whispered, “They say he had wings sprouting from his back!”

Harry stared at him in shock. He hadn’t mentioned that part of the dream to them.

“But the Malfoys are pure-bloods,” Harry protested wildly. “He can’t be one of these creatures. Can he?”

“I’m going upstairs to –“ Hermione began as she got to her feet.

“-the library,” Ron and Harry finished, standing and following her up the stairs.

Some time later, surrounded by books on pure-blood genealogy, magical creatures and Merlin’s life history, Hermione gave an excited squeal.

“Look at this! According to this book, the Malfoys are descended from Merlin!” she exclaimed.

Harry and Ron crowded around her to peer over her shoulder at the book in her lap.

“Does it say anything about Merlin being part incubus?” Ron wanted to know.

Hermione shook her head. “No,” she admitted. “This is a book on pure-blood lines. They would never have admitted to that, even if it was true.”

A couple hours later, Hermione slammed her book shut in frustration. “We’re not making any progress,” she complained.

Harry yawned and stretched.

“We may not be having any luck here,” Harry said. “But… I know a quicker way to get some answers.”

*** *** ***

_Harry fell asleep fully clothed, wand in hand. He awoke to the feeling of the bed dipping as someone climbed in._

_“Malfoy?” he asked softly, opening his eyes._

_Draco was frozen in place for a moment, but recovered quickly._

_“Shh, Potter,” he said, moving to straddle the dark-haired wizard. “Just relax. Enjoy.”_

_Harry grabbed hold of him and rolled, pinning him to the bed underneath him._

_“Tell me what’s going on, Malfoy. How are you doing this?” Harry snarled._

_“You’re dreaming, Potter, that’s all,” Draco retorted._

_“I don’t know what you’re playing at, but you had better start talking. Now!” Harry’s voice left little room for argument._

_Draco slicked his tongue over his lips and looked at Harry nervously._

_“Let me up and we can talk,” he wheedled._

_Harry snorted. “Do I really look that stupid?” He pushed Draco harder into the mattress. “Talk,” he growled._

_Draco stared at him, mouth set in a firm line._

_“Come off it, Malfoy!” Harry finally shouted. “You are going to tell me what is going on here, or so help me…” he trailed off and pounded his fist into the mattress above Draco’s head._

_Draco flinched and jerked his head to one side, the wings rustling as he did so._

_“Alright, how about we start with something easier?” Harry asked in exasperation. “What in bloody hell is with those wings?”_

_Draco glared at him. “None of your fucking business, Potter,” he sneered._

_“What happened to you? What are you doing to me?”_

_“I haven’t done anything to you. Other than give your pathetic sex life a boost.”_

_“Malfoy, I swear –“_

_“Go ahead. You can’t do anything to me. I’m not even fucking_ real _anymore, Scarhead,” Draco shouted._

_Harry froze. “What do you mean, you’re not real anymore?”_

_“I’m just a figment of your twisted imagination, Potter, and when you’re tired of me, I’ll disappear again,” he sighed._

_“Then I’ll find the real you. I’ll track you down in America or wherever you disappeared to –“_

_Draco’s bitter laughter cut him off. “Good luck with that,” he scoffed. “I’d start with the Malfoy family crypt. I’m sure my family had a private service for me.”_

_Harry stared at him._

_“What the hell_ happened _to you, Draco?” he asked in a small voice._

_If Draco seemed surprised by the use of his given name, he didn’t show it._

_“Ask my Aunt Bella,” he shrugged._

_“Bellatrix Lestrange is dead,” Harry told him._

_“Dead?” Draco seemed surprised. At Harry’s nod, he gave another bitter little laugh. “Then there really is no hope for me.”_

_With that, Draco gathered his strength and rolled them both over – once – twice –_

*** *** ***

Harry awoke with a thud as he fell out of bed.

“Dammit!” he shouted, springing to his feet and looking wildly around the empty room.

He stopped short as he spotted a small white feather on the duvet. Another lay on the floor where Harry had landed. Scooping them both up, he clutched them tightly as he ran from the room.

“Hermione!”

Harry pounded down the hall and into the library, where Ron and Hermione looked up at him in surprise.

“Could a curse have done this to him?”

“What?”

“Turned Malfoy into a cambion. Or an incubus, whatever.”

“I – I don’t know,” Hermione confessed.

“Could he have been cursed?” Harry prompted. “He’s not – he can’t be – dead, can he?”

“Why would you think he was dead?” Ron wanted to know.

“Because when I threatened to track him down, he told me to start with the Malfoy crypt.”

Hermione and Ron were silent for a long moment.

“Harry, are you sure that –“ Hermione broke off as Harry held out the feathers with a trembling hand.

“It’s real, ‘Mione,” he said shakily. “He’s real. I know he is.”

*** *** ***

_That night, Harry woke to find Draco staring at him from the foot of the bed._

_“I’m still here,” Draco said, sounding faintly surprised._

_Harry reached out for him, but the blond shied away from his touch._

_“What do you want from me, Potter?” he asked quietly._

_“I… I want to know what happened to you,” Harry replied._

_Silence stretched between them before Draco finally asked, “What does it matter? Are you going to save me? Saint Potter to the rescue?”_

_“It matters, Draco._ You _matter,” Harry told him._

_Draco looked doubtful._

_“You said I should ask your Aunt Bellatrix what happened to you,” Harry pressed. “Why?”_

_The blond sighed, his wings drooping as he looked down at the duvet._

_“She cursed my mother,” Draco whispered. “Retaliation for her betrayal of the Dark Lord, during the Final Battle.”_

_Harry held very still. “When she… told Voldemort that I was dead?” he asked with trepidation._

_Draco nodded. “Aunt Bella was his most devoted follower. When she realized what my mother had done… lied to the Dark Lord, in order to try to find me… she cursed her.”_

_Harry inched closer to the distraught blond wizard. “Did she curse you, too?” he asked softly._

_Draco snorted and shook his head. “It’s the same curse, Potter,” he spat. “She wanted my mother to suffer for her choice. Bella cursed her with something designed to punish her_ and _her bloodline.”_

_“You.”_

_“Me.”_

_“What… what kind of curse was it?” Harry asked finally. “Maybe there’s a counter-curse.”_

_“If there was, my mother would have found it already,” he said despondently._

_“Draco,” Harry began, as he tried reaching out for him again. “Please. Let me try to help you.”_

_“Why would you do that?”_

_“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Harry paused. “And… because the nights I dream about you have been the best nights of my life.”_

_Draco stared at him for a long moment, silvery eyes meeting emerald green, before closing the gap between them and allowing Harry to gather him into his arms._

_“Malfoy heirs inherit more than just the estates and the wealth,” Draco told him. “There’s a… magical birthright, as well.”_

_Harry waited for him to explain._

_“For generations, every Malfoy heir has had certain… enhanced abilities.” Draco’s voice was soft. “Probably where the rumors about our having Veela blood stem from. But we’re not Veela…” he trailed off and looked away._

_“Does this have to do with being descended from Merlin?” Harry asked._

_Draco nodded, relieved. “Merlin was a cambion,” Draco said tonelessly. “All Malfoy heirs receive at least some cambion powers when we come of age.” He paused. “I could…sense desires. It made seducing people very easy. And I could enter people’s dreams.”_

_Harry nodded encouragingly, petting Draco’s wings in what he hoped was a soothing manner._

_“Bella’s curse must have been designed to… ‘out’ us, as not really the pure-bloods we pretend to be. Instead of just having a fraction of cambion power, it transformed me. The curse took time; I was asleep and dreaming when it took hold fully. I… I’ve been trapped in dreams ever since.”_

_Harry looked at Draco with a horrified expression. “But… that’s been years, Draco!”_

_The blond nodded miserably._

_Harry’s heart broke, and he held the other man to him tightly. “We’ll figure out a way,” he whispered into his hair._

*** *** ***

It took two days, and a visit to Hogwarts and its Restricted Section, before the trio had what Hermione considered to be a potential counter-curse.

She dropped down next to Harry and Ron with an excited squeak.

“Harry, tell me again what Malfoy thought the curse had been?” she whispered urgently.

“ _Sanguinis prodito mala fide revelio_ ,” Harry said with a sigh.

Hermione nodded. “According to this, there _is_ a counter-curse,” she said triumphantly. She continued reading down the page for a moment before her grin faded into a frown. “Oh,” she said, visibly deflated.

“No counter-curse?” Ron asked after a moment.

“”What? Oh! No, there is one, it’s just that… it might be difficult to perform…” Hermione trailed off uncertainly.

“Let’s have it, then,” Harry said, his voice full of resignation.

“According to this, the counter-curse incantation is “ _sanguinis protego nobile fide aparecium_ , but…”

“But what?” Ron prompted.

“But it has to be cast by a true love,” Hermione all but whispered.

The trio looked at each other.

“Bloody hell,” Ron whispered in dismay.

Harry dropped his head onto the table with a groan.

*** *** ***

_That night, Harry let Draco control the dream, unsure how, or if, to tell the blond of their discovery. Draco pushed him backwards until he was sitting with his back against the headboard and then straddled his lap, his wings fluttering nervously against Harry’s thighs._

_Harry moaned as the blond leaned in and nibbled at his earlobe, closing his eyes and allowing himself to be lost in the pleasure of Draco’s hands, lips and tongue. After a few moments, though, his Gryffindor nature reared its stubborn head._

_“Draco,” he said, in between deep, needy kisses. “Draco, we have to talk.”_

_The blond pulled back and looked at him. “About what?”_

_“Hermione found a counter-curse,” Harry said._

_“She – what?” Hope flared in the silver eyes, only to be immediately extinguished. “Why won’t it work?”_

_“What makes you think it won’t work?”_

_“Because if it would, one of you would have cast it already,” Draco said quietly. “Tell me what the catch is.”_

_“The incantation… will only work if cast by your true love,” Harry’s voice was barely a whisper._

_Draco closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. “So, that’s that, I suppose.”_

_“Draco-“ Harry’s protest was cut short by a passionate kiss._

_“Please, Harry. Enough,” he said gently. “You tried to help, and I will always appreciate that. But I won’t enter your dreams again.”_

_“What? Why?”_

_“Because the dreams are addicting. Before too long you’d be skipping work, taking potions to dream all the time. I won’t do that to you.”_

_“So that’s it? This is the last time I get to hold you?”_

_Draco nodded. “It’s for the best.”_

_Harry nuzzled his neck, his hands gripping Draco’s slender hips tightly._

_“I don’t want to let you go,” he whispered._

_“You have to,” came the whispered reply. “For your own sake.”_

_Harry held him close and sighed. Hours passed like minutes as they clung together, neither willing to admit defeat to the approaching dawn._

_Finally, Draco pushed against Harry until he was sitting upright. He leaned in and kissed the dark-haired man._

_“Teach me the incantation, before I go?” Draco asked._

_In a soft voice, Harry cast the incantation three times, showing Draco the wand movements clearly. Emerald met silver for a brief moment, then Draco kissed him again._

_“Goodbye, my Harry.”_

*** *** ***

Harry awoke to the grey morning light. He lay on his side for a moment, remembering the dream and Draco’s final words to him.

_Goodbye, my Harry._

He wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, fighting the tears welling up in them.

With a strangled sob, he rolled onto his back, flinging his arm across the bed.

Landing a rather loud backhanded slap against something that was decidedly _not_ the bed.

Harry shot upright, staring down at the pale, blond form snuggled beneath the covers. He reached out a hand to brush the hair from Draco’s face, caressing his cheek in wonder.

 _True love broke the spell after all,_ he thought with a smile, as he bent down to wake the blond with a kiss.

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> *** *** ***
> 
> _Story Notes:  
>  1\. Ron’s quote “Always the tone of surprise” from DH, Chapter 5.  
>  2\. “Sanguinis prodito mala fide revelio” roughly translates to “Blood betrayal, bad faith revealed” and “Sanguinis protego nobile fide aparecium” roughly to “Protected blood of noble faith, appear.” Both are cobbled from the Latin and accepted canon spells._


End file.
